Wednesday, January 23, 2013

A lot of people like having peanuts for Chinese New Year because of the name that sounds like 'grow'. It's a lot cheaper to make these yourself than buying. Here, where raw materials aren't very cheap, I got mine at RM8.50/kg. And I chose to bake them instead of frying

If you love snacking on peanuts, give this a try, you might get addicted.
I have already hidden these from my husband.... LOL

1. Peel garlic and blend it together with salt and water until everything is really fine.
2. Put the garlic brine into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat. Pour in all the peanuts, give it a stir. Let the peanuts sit, tossing them every now, until all the brine is absorbed, takes about 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven at 150(fan)/170C. Line a big baking tray with baking paper.
4. Pour all the soaked peanuts onto the tray, spreading them out, preferably single layer (some being on top is fine, but not too much)
5. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and shake the peanuts from the paper (yeah, it sticks at this time). Stir it around and break clumps.
6. Put it back into the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove and stir. Do this twice.
7. Do a taste test and bake for another 5 minutes (I did), if it's needed.
7. Let the nuts cool down totally and store in air tight container.

*The time is just a guideline, do a taste test to determine whether yours is cooked. The timing here is what I did.
** If you prefer it obviously salty, try 1/2 Tbsp salt. 1 tsp is just 'seasoned'

I LOVE snacking on nuts! And I love garlic! haha This is interesting that you actually soak the peanuts in the garlic solution, and not just use garlic powder. Definitely something I'll try! Thanks for sharing!

Hi Wendy, nice to meet you in person last Saturday. You are so lively, happy, friendly and easy to get along with. You are an expert in your culinary skills besides, I believe, many other skills which are still unknown to me.

I love peanuts, so does my husband. Sometimes I can finish one whole packet by myself at one go if I allow myself the indulgence:( He loves big Shangdong peanuts especially. Looks like we'll be having home-baked garlic roasted peanuts for the first time and many more times to come and this will be another CNY item on my growing DIY list :)

Hi Wendy,Are the peanuts starting out raw? Or are they starting out roasted already? The Chinese supermarkets here have a lot of raw peanuts that I usually boil but I'm dying to try your garlic recipe! Thanks.Clara King

Hi Wendy, Are the peanuts you're using raw or are they roasted before you use them? The Chinese supermarkets have a lot of raw peanuts that I boil to eat and I'm dying to try your garlic recipe!Thanks.

OMG Wendy.. I love eating peanuts, especially with a lot of garlic.. this can send my hubby away from me LOL - he hate garlic. I never know how to make oven peanut garlic, people in my country always fry the peanut. Yours is even better. Thank you for sharing, I will try tomorrow..

Hi Wendy, Wow! this brings me back to my childhood. I totally forgot about this snack. My father used to make them and I really like the garlic. I don't know how he did it but he will have garlic slices and I will pick all the garlic. Now I tried frying garlic slices but they turned out bitter. Do you have any idea why the garlic became bitter when fried? Thanks!